Monday, August 15, 2022

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (Drought Edition) August 2022

 Before I begin, if you are looking for my Music Monday post, click here.

It's the 15th of the month, and I am joining other flower gardeners for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  We are officially in a drought in my zone 5b garden in the Southern Tier and my plants are suffering.  The warmer than normal temperatures (fortunately not as bad as some parts of our United States) hasn't helped.  Fortunately, no water restrictions - yet.

There is some good in this - the blueberry crop in our area has been fantastic, but that may be partially a function of last year's wetter than normal summer.  But, watering our community garden and the flower beds (thank you, husband) is not our favorite thing to do.

Fortunately these cardinal flowers (the first year ours have bloomed) seem to be pretty drought resistant.

Cosmos.

One of our day lilies is still blooming but it looks like today is the last day.  This plant has large flowers and they are fragrant, too.

The last day for this one was yesterday but I am calling it "showing you anyway". If you see some water droplets on it, it wasn't from rain.

This one also finished yesterday.  Another one (one we just bought in July) is done for now but is sending up a new flower stalk.

Bachelor buttons are also doing well.  I hadn't grown them in several years but I got some free seeds and decided to go for it. 

Our hibiscus is doing just fine for now. In fact, the plant is loaded with blooms.  By the way, to any of my readers who don't think hibiscus will grow in colder climates, they can.  We don't have to take any special winter precautions, either. We even saw several in Vermont earlier this month, on a short trip.  Where we saw them was probably zone 5a but may have been a protected location. 

I wish I could say the same for our tall phlox.  I think it is giving up prematurely.  I did find one decent cluster yesterday.  The rest of them are on their way out.

My one container of lantanas has me totally puzzled.  They have stopped blooming.  I don't think we've overwatered it (I know they like being slightly stressed and we keep them on the dry side.)  This weather, including our warmer than normal temperatures, should have been perfect for them.  Thoughts? Is there a way to get them to bloom again?

Our glads barely hung on until GBBD.

Here are several petunias.  This first container, which I've shown before, is a cross between petunias and million bells.  I am more than thrilled with their performance.  This one is a keeper.

My favorite petunia color.

Finally, a small petunia assortment.  They have become my favorite flower although some varieties have to be pruned back midsummer and I never know what to expect.
 

Ending with a small bacopa from my hanging baskets.  These are white.

Thanks go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly meme.  If you want to see more flowers, head on over to Carol's blog and you'll see other participating flower gardeners.


11 comments:

  1. I am already starting my fall cleanup. My daylilies are almost done, but my hibiscus are beautiful this year. I've never seen so many flowers.
    I thought of you yesterday when I saw my first Monarchs visiting the garden. They love my Joe-pye weed.

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  2. ...in the Adirondacks, cardinal flowers grow in wet spots.

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  3. Nice that your daylilies still have a few blooms. Mine are done. My phlox have about given up too. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. A beautiful assortment of flowers!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

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  5. You have a good number and variety of blooms in your garden. Happy Bloom Day.

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  6. All your garden flowers are beautiful, especially the gladiolus. Our June and July saw lots of heat and drought, but August has been abundant with rain.

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  7. Hibiscus syriaca, the Rose of Sharon, yes. Mother planted one that color here...How did youall manage a drought? We had the Dog Days of Rain and they're not over. "Scattered showers." I was sitting in this fast-food place, which is perched on the side of the mountain, looking out through rain in the parking lot at bright sunshine on the other side of the narrow strip of town down below.

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  8. You have an amazing bunch of blooms! You've had a much better season than I have.

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  9. Love those petunias. Here the hibiscus is in full bloom.

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  10. Gorgeous blooms, Alana! I love GBBD!
    Mine are just coming on full right now. Husby planted begonia bulbs this year instead of the already-growing plants I usually put in. We're just now seeing some action! My hollyhocks are in full bloom and wonderful! My nasturtiums think they own the world and are slowly climbing my walls and trying to spread across the front lawn. I SO love this time of year! We wait for it All. Winter. Long!!!

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